UN says Israeli attacks pushing Gaza healthcare to total collapse
The UN Human Rights Office said Israeli attacks on and around the hospital had pushed Gaza’s health system to the “brink of total collapse” and raised serious concerns about war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A new report describes a pattern of Israeli military attacks, sieges and forcible evacuations of hospitals, resulting in patients dying or being killed.
It acknowledged Israeli accusations that Palestinian armed groups were using the hospital but said the evidence was “vague”.
Israel’s mission in Geneva said the report expressed the UN Human Rights Office’s “politically driven obsession with Israel” and its “reliance on information from Hamas health authorities.” The report stresses that the actions of the Israeli military are in compliance with international law. law and “never target innocent civilians.”
“This is Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization that uses civilians as human shields and hospitals to carry out its terrorist activities,” the statement added.
Days earlier, the last functioning hospital in besieged northern Gaza was attacked by the Israeli military, which Israel said was being used as a Hamas command center.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas after it launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.
Since then, more than 45,500 people have been killed and 108,300 injured in Gaza, according to the Hamas-governed Gaza Health Ministry.
“As if the relentless bombardment and dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the refuge where Palestinians were supposed to feel safe has actually turned into a death trap,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Tuesday.
“The protection of hospitals during war is vital and must always be respected by all parties.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that during the reporting period (October 2023 to June 2024), at least 136 attacks occurred in 27 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities.
The attacks resulted in “significant casualties among doctors, nurses, medical personnel and other civilians” and caused “severe damage or even complete destruction of civilian infrastructure,” the report added.
Medical personnel and hospitals are specially protected by international humanitarian law, provided that they do not commit or are not used to commit acts harmful to the enemy beyond their humanitarian functions. Even so, any attack must adhere to the basic principles of distinction, proportionality and attack prevention.
The OHCHR said intentional attacks on hospitals and facilities treating the wounded, intentional attacks on civilians and intentional disproportionate attacks constitute war crimes.
And in some cases, intentional destruction of medical facilities may constitute a form of collective punishment, which also constitutes a war crime.
In most cases of Israeli attacks on hospitals, Israel claimed the hospitals were being used inappropriately by Palestinian armed groups, the report said.
“To date, however, there is insufficient information to substantiate these allegations, which remain vague and broad and in some cases appear to contradict public information,” the UN report said.
“If these allegations are confirmed, it will raise serious concerns that Palestinian armed groups are taking advantage of the presence of civilians to deliberately protect themselves from attacks, which would constitute a war crime.”
Hamas and medical personnel deny the hospitals are being used by armed groups.
The report also states that the impact of Israeli military operations in and around the hospital extends far beyond the physical structure.
“Many women give birth with no or minimal prenatal and postnatal care, increasing the risk of preventable maternal and child deaths,” the report said.
“OHCHR has received reports that some newborns have died because their mothers were unable to attend postpartum check-ups or go to a health facility to give birth.”
The report also said that trauma patients were unable to receive timely and potentially life-saving treatment, noting that Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported an 80% reduction in the number of hospital beds and the deaths of more than 500 medical professionals as of December 2019. End of June.
“Many of the injured reportedly died while awaiting hospitalization or treatment. Even those who managed to receive critical care, including surgery, were not provided with proper bedding and facilities and were often discharged prematurely due to lack of space.”
The OHCHR cited the Israeli government as saying that the Israeli military had taken “extensive measures” to “mitigate civilian harm and minimize disruption to medical services.”
That includes opening hospital evacuation routes, providing medical equipment, fuel and other assistance to keep hospitals running, and establishing field hospitals, the report said.
The Israeli government also claims that Hamas has chosen to “methodically abuse the protection of medical facilities” “as a strategy to embed its tunnel systems and infrastructure within medical facilities and use them as weapons caches and accessible Headquarters “its agents”.
Türk called for an independent investigation into the events documented in the report and said “Israel, as the occupying power, must also prioritize ensuring and promoting access to adequate health care for the Palestinian people”.
